1
|
Aliberti SM, Funk RHW, Schiavo L, Giudice A, Ciaglia E, Puca AA, Gonnella J, Capunzo M. Clinical Status, Nutritional Behavior, and Lifestyle, and Determinants of Community Well-Being of Patients from the Perspective of Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Study of Young Older Adults, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians in Salerno and Province, Italy. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14173665. [PMID: 36079922 PMCID: PMC9459717 DOI: 10.3390/nu14173665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Longevity is rightly considered one of the greatest achievements of modern society. Biomedical research has shown that aging is the major risk factor for many diseases, so to find the right answers to aging it is necessary to identify factors that can positively influence longevity. This study investigated the clinical status, nutritional behavior, lifestyle, and social and community determinants of the well-being of young older adults and nonagenarians/centenarians in Salerno and province through the judgment of their physicians. Data were collected through an online survey. Multivariate Poisson and logistic regression models were used to calculate significant predictors of the outcomes of interest. The interesting finding was that cardiovascular disease was a risk factor for young older adults, while it was a protective factor for nonagenarians/centenarians, meaning that as age increased, heart problems tended to decrease. Certain foods were found to be a significant protective factor for both young older adult and nonagenarian-centenarian patients. In addition, psychosomatic disorders were found to be determinant for the young older adults, while depression was a risk factor for the nonagenarians/centenarians because they were not always gratified by their long lives and often felt like a burden on the family. The protective significant variable among the determinants of community well-being for both young older adults and nonagenarians/centenarians was the retention of honorary achievement. Based on our results, we are able to support the hypothesis of a difference between the young older adults and the nonagenarians/centenarians in clinical status, nutritional behaviors, lifestyle, and determinants of community well-being. However, societies need more social and educational programs that are able to build "a new idea of old age" by improving and supporting the young older adults and the nonagenarians/centenarians, with the goal of intergenerational solidarity, well-being, and social inclusion, as well as preventive interventions on lifestyles and nutrition, which will allow us to provide a new key to understanding aging.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Silvana Mirella Aliberti
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-089-965227
| | - Richard H. W. Funk
- Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Institute of Anatomy, University of Technology (TU) Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Luigi Schiavo
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
| | - Aldo Giudice
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
- Animal Facility, Istituto Nazionale Tumori—Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS)—“Fond. G. Pascale”, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Elena Ciaglia
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
| | - Annibale Alessandro Puca
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
- Cardiovascular Research Unit, IRCCS MultiMedica, 20138 Milan, Italy
| | - Joseph Gonnella
- Center for Medical Research in Medical Education and Health Care, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Mario Capunzo
- Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Salerno, Italy
- Complex Operational Unit Health Hygiene, University Hospital “San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d’Aragona”, 84131 Salerno, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Extreme Longevity: Analysis of the Direct or Indirect Influence of Environmental Factors on Old, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians in Cilento, Italy. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031589. [PMID: 35162611 PMCID: PMC8834812 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Longevity is rightly considered one of the greatest achievements of modern society, an achievement understood as the possibility of increasing the healthy part of life and not only its full duration. This study investigated the phenomenon of regional longevity in Cilento by analyzing the association between longevity indicators and some environmental factors, in order to understand if factors such as altitude, climate, UNESCO protected areas, and hinterland can directly or indirectly influence the measure of healthy living and lead to longevity. Demographic and environmental data were collected through the Archives of the Cilento municipalities, the National Institute of Statistics, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and the Italian National Commission for UNESCO. The Geographically Weighted Regression were used to determine the association between longevity indicators and environmental factors. Correlation analysis between the longevity indicators was investigated in order to have a complete picture of longevity in Cilento. It was discovered that Cilento longevity is mainly found in the central area of the territory and from there, by age groups, it widens towards the south-eastern area. This designated area is part of the hilly area of the Cilento, at an altitude between 400 and 700 m above sea level. The towns of this area are part of the UNESCO heritage and are characterized by a transitional climate between Mediterranean and temperate climate. Moreover, the correlation analysis between the six indicators of longevity has confirmed a linear relationship between the six variables and this indicates that in the years to come there will be the probabilities of a generational turn over between the old, great old, nonagenarians and current centenarians, provided that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic subsides.
Collapse
|
3
|
Charpentier A, Gallic E. La démographie historique peut-elle tirer profit des données collaboratives des sites de généalogie ? POPULATION 2020. [DOI: 10.3917/popu.2002.0391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
|
4
|
Berg NVD, Rodríguez-Girondo M, de Craen AJM, Houwing-Duistermaat JJ, Beekman M, Slagboom PE. Longevity Around the Turn of the 20th Century: Life-Long Sustained Survival Advantage for Parents of Today's Nonagenarians. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2019; 73:1295-1302. [PMID: 29596573 PMCID: PMC6132126 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/gly049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Members of longevous families live longer than individuals from similar birth cohorts and delay/escape age-related diseases. Insight into this familial component of longevity can provide important knowledge about mechanisms protecting against age-related diseases. This familial component of longevity was studied in the Leiden Longevity Study which consists of 944 longevous siblings (participants), their parents (N = 842), siblings (N = 2,302), and spouses (N = 809). Family longevity scores were estimated to explore whether human longevity is transmitted preferentially through the maternal or paternal line. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were estimated to investigate whether longevous siblings have a survival advantage compared with longevous singletons and we investigated whether parents of longevous siblings harbor a life-long sustained survival advantage compared with the general Dutch population by estimating lifetime SMRs (L-SMRs). We found that sibships with long-lived mothers and non-long-lived fathers had 0.41 (p = .024) less observed deaths than sibships with long-lived fathers and non-long-lived mothers and 0.48 (p = .008) less observed deaths than sibships with both parents non-long lived. Participants had 18.6 per cent less deaths compared with matched singletons and parents had a life-long sustained survival advantage (L-SMR = 0.510 and 0.688). In conclusion, genetic longevity studies may incorporate the maternal transmission pattern and genes influencing the entire life-course of individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Niels van den Berg
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University, Albinusdreef, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Department of Economic, Social, and Demographic History, Radboud University, Erasmusplein, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Mar Rodríguez-Girondo
- Department of Medical Statistics, Leiden University, Albinusdreef, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Anton J M de Craen
- Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University, Albinusdreef, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Marian Beekman
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University, Albinusdreef, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - P Eline Slagboom
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University, Albinusdreef, Leiden, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Age-related deficit accumulation and the diseases of ageing. Mech Ageing Dev 2019; 180:107-116. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2019.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
|
6
|
Arbeeva LS, Hanson HA, Arbeev KG, Kulminski AM, Stallard E, Ukraintseva SV, Wu D, Boudreau RM, Province MA, Smith KR, Yashin AI. How Well Does the Family Longevity Selection Score Work: A Validation Test Using the Utah Population Database. Front Public Health 2018; 6:277. [PMID: 30327761 PMCID: PMC6174319 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The Family Longevity Selection Score (FLoSS) was used to select families for the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) but has never been validated in other populations. The goal of this paper is to validate how well the FLoSS-based selection procedure works in an independent dataset. In this paper, we computed FLoSS using the lifespan data of 234,155 individuals from a large comprehensive genealogically-based resource, the Utah Population Database (UPDB), born between 1779 and 1910 with mortality follow-up through 2012-2013. Computations of FLoSS in a specific year (1980) confirmed the survival advantage of the "exceptional" sibships (defined by LLFS FLoSS threshold, FLoSS ≥ 7). We found that the subsample of the UPDB participants born after 1900 who were from the "exceptional" sibships had survival curves similar to that of the US participants from the LLFS probands' generation. Comparisons between the offspring of parents with "exceptional" and "ordinary" survival showed the survival advantage of the "exceptional" offspring. Investigators seeking to explain the extent genetics and environment contribute to exceptional survival will benefit from the use of exceptionally long-lived individuals and their relatives. Appropriate ranking of families by survival exceptionality and their availability for the purposes of providing genetic and phenotypic data is critical for selecting participants into such studies. This study validated the FLoSS as selection criteria in family longevity studies using UPDB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liubov S. Arbeeva
- Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Heidi A. Hanson
- Department of Surgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Konstantin G. Arbeev
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Alexander M. Kulminski
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Eric Stallard
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Svetlana V. Ukraintseva
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Deqing Wu
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Robert M. Boudreau
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Michael A. Province
- Division of Statistical Genomics, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Ken R. Smith
- Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
- Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
| | - Anatoliy I. Yashin
- Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
van den Berg N, Beekman M, Smith KR, Janssens A, Slagboom PE. Historical demography and longevity genetics: Back to the future. Ageing Res Rev 2017; 38:28-39. [PMID: 28689042 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2017.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2017] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Research into the genetic component of human longevity can provide important insights in mechanisms that may protect against age-related diseases and multi-morbidity. Thus far only a limited number of robust longevity loci have been detected in either candidate or genome wide association studies. One of the issues in these genetic studies is the definition of the trait being either lifespan, including any age at death or longevity, i.e. survival above a diverse series of thresholds. Likewise heritability and segregation research have conflated lifespan with longevity. The heritability of lifespan estimated across most studies has been rather low. Environmental factors have not been sufficiently investigated and the total amount of genetic variance contributing to longevity has not been estimated in sufficiently well-defined and powered studies. Up to now, genetic longevity studies lack the required insights into the nature and size of the genetic component and the optimal strategies for meta-analysis and subject selection for Next Generation Sequencing efforts. Historical demographic data containing deep genealogical information may help in estimating the best definition and heritability for longevity, its transmission patterns in multi-generational datasets and may allow relevant additive and modifying environmental factors such as socio-economic status, geographical background, exposure to environmental effects, birth order, and number of children to be included. In this light historical demographic data may be very useful for identifying lineages in human populations that are worth investigating further by geneticists.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Niels van den Berg
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Marian Beekman
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Ken Robert Smith
- Department of Family and Consumer Studies, Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, 225 S. 1400 E. Rm 228, Salt Lake City, United States.
| | - Angelique Janssens
- Department of Economic, Social, and Demographic History, Radboud University, Erasmusplein 1, 6525 HT Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Pieternella Eline Slagboom
- Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS. Predictors of Exceptional Longevity: Effects of Early-Life and Midlife Conditions, and Familial Longevity. NORTH AMERICAN ACTUARIAL JOURNAL : NAAJ 2015; 19:174-186. [PMID: 26412963 PMCID: PMC4580260 DOI: 10.1080/10920277.2015.1018390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Knowledge of strong predictors of mortality and longevity is very important for actuarial science and practice. Earlier studies found that parental characteristics as well as early-life conditions and midlife environment play a significant role in survival to advanced ages. However, little is known about the simultaneous effects of these three factors on longevity. This ongoing study attempts to fill this gap by comparing centenarians born in the United States in 1890-1891 with peers born in the same years who died at age 65. The records for centenarians and controls were taken from computerized family histories, which were then linked to 1900 and 1930 U.S. censuses. As a result of this linkage procedure, 765 records of confirmed centenarians and 783 records of controls were obtained. Analysis with multivariate logistic regression found the existence of both general and gender-specific predictors of human longevity. General predictors common for men and women are paternal and maternal longevity. Gender-specific predictors of male longevity are occupation as a farmer at age 40, Northeastern region of birth in the United States, and birth in the second half of year. A gender-specific predictor of female longevity is the availability of radio in the household according to the 1930 U.S. census. Given the importance of familial longevity as an independent predictor of survival to advanced ages, we conducted a comparative study of biological and nonbiological relatives of centenarians using a larger sample of 1,945 validated U.S. centenarians born in 1880-1895. We found that male gender of centenarian has a significant positive effect on survival of adult male relatives (brothers and fathers) but not female blood relatives. Life span of centenarian siblings-in-law is lower compared to life span of centenarian siblings and does not depend on centenarian gender. Wives of male centenarians (who share lifestyle and living conditions) have a significantly better survival compared to wives of centenarians' brothers. This finding demonstrates an important role of shared familial environment and lifestyle in human longevity. The results of this study suggest that familial background, some early-life conditions and midlife characteristics play an important role in longevity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leonid A. Gavrilov
- Center on Aging, NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
- WHO Collaborating Centre, Department of Statistical Analysis of Population Health, Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - Natalia S. Gavrilova
- Center on Aging, NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
- WHO Collaborating Centre, Department of Statistical Analysis of Population Health, Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Intergenerational and Genealogical Approaches for the Study of Longevity in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Population. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2015; 19:70-86. [PMID: 26181379 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-008-9031-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The mechanisms of longevity have been the subject of investigations for a number of years. Although the role of genetic factors is generally acknowledged, important questions persist regarding the relative impact of environmental exposures, lifestyle characteristics, and genes. The BALSAC population register offers a unique opportunity to study longevity from an intergenerational and genealogical point of view. Individuals from the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean population who died at age 90 or older between 1950 and 1974 were selected from this database (n = 576), along with a control group of individuals born in the same period who died between 50 and 75 years of age. For these subjects and controls, spouses' ages at death and parental ages at death and at their birth were investigated using regression analysis. Genealogical reconstructions were carried out for each individual, and various analyses were performed on both groups. Both fathers' and mothers' mean ages at death were significantly higher among the longer-lived cases than among controls whereas spouses' ages at death and parental ages at birth had no effect. Regression analysis confirmed the positive effect of both fathers' and mothers' age at death. Mean kinship coefficients for the parents' generations displayed significant differences, indicating that kinship was higher among subjects than controls (this effect was stronger among the oldest 10% of the subjects). Frequencies and genetic contributions of ancestors were very similar for the two groups, and none of these ancestors appeared more likely to have introduced genetic variants involved in longevity patterns in this French Canadian population.
Collapse
|
10
|
Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS. Season of birth and exceptional longevity: comparative study of american centenarians, their siblings, and spouses. J Aging Res 2011; 2011:104616. [PMID: 22187646 PMCID: PMC3236478 DOI: 10.4061/2011/104616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2011] [Revised: 08/11/2011] [Accepted: 09/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
This study explores the effects of month of birth (a proxy for early-life environmental influences) on the chances of survival to age 100. Months of birth for 1,574 validated centenarians born in the United States in 1880-1895 were compared to the same information obtained for centenarians' 10,885 shorter-lived siblings and 1,083 spouses. Comparison was conducted using a within-family analysis by the method of conditional logistic regression, which allows researchers to control for unobserved shared childhood or adulthood environment and common genetic background. It was found that months of birth have significant long-lasting effect on survival to age 100: siblings born in September-November have higher odds to become centenarians compared to siblings born in March. A similar month-of-birth pattern was found for centenarian spouses. These results support the idea of early-life programming of human aging and longevity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leonid A. Gavrilov
- Center on Economics and Demography of Aging, NORC at the University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Natalia S. Gavrilova
- Center on Economics and Demography of Aging, NORC at the University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova N. Interview with Leonid A. Gavrilov, Ph.D.and Natalia Gavrilova, Ph.D. Rejuvenation Res 2009; 12:371-4. [PMID: 19929260 PMCID: PMC6469515 DOI: 10.1089/rej.2009.0979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
|
12
|
Smith KR, Mineau GP, Garibotti G, Kerber R. Effects of childhood and middle-adulthood family conditions on later-life mortality: evidence from the Utah Population Database, 1850-2002. Soc Sci Med 2009; 68:1649-58. [PMID: 19278766 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2007] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We examine how key early family circumstances affect mortality risks decades later. Early-life conditions are measured by parental mortality, parental fertility (e.g., offspring sibship size, parental age at offspring birth), religious upbringing, and parental socioeconomic status. Prior to these early-life conditions are familial and genetic factors that affect life span. Accordingly, we consider the role of parental and familial longevity on adult mortality risks. We analyze the large Utah Population Database which contains a vast amount of genealogical and other vital/health data that contain full life histories of individuals and hundreds of their relatives. To control for unobserved heterogeneity, we analyze sib-pair data for 12,000 sib-pairs using frailty models. We found modest effects of key childhood conditions (birth order, sibship size, parental religiosity, parental SES, and parental death in childhood). Our measures of familial aggregation of longevity were large and suggest an alternative view of early-life conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ken R Smith
- University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Perls T, Kohler IV, Andersen S, Schoenhofen E, Pennington J, Young R, Terry D, Elo IT. Survival of parents and siblings of supercentenarians. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2007; 62:1028-34. [PMID: 17895443 PMCID: PMC3258444 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/62.9.1028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Given previous evidence of familial predisposition for longevity, we hypothesized that siblings and parents of supercentenarians (age >or= 110 years) were predisposed to survival to very old age and that, relative to their birth cohorts, their relative survival probabilities (RSPs) are even higher than what has been observed for the siblings of centenarians. METHODS Mean age at death conditional upon survival to ages 20 and 50 and survival probabilities from ages 20 and 50 to higher ages were determined for 50 male and 56 female siblings and 54 parents of 29 supercentenarians. These estimates were contrasted with comparable estimates based on birth cohort-specific mortality experience for the United States and Sweden. RESULTS Conditional on survival to age 20 years, mean age at death of supercentenarians' siblings was approximately 81 years for men and women. Compared with respective Swedish and U.S. birth cohorts, these estimates were 17%-20% (12-14 years) higher for the brothers and 11%-14% (8-10 years) higher for the sisters. Sisters had a 2.9 times greater probability and brothers had a 4.3 times greater probability of survival from age 20 to age 90. Mothers of supercentenarians had a 5.8 times greater probability of surviving from age 50 to age 90. Fathers also experienced an increased survival probability from age 50 to age 90 of 2.7, but it failed to attain statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS The RSPs of siblings and mothers of supercentenarians revealed a substantial survival advantage and were most pronounced at the oldest ages. The RSP to age 90 for siblings of supercentenarians was approximately the same as that reported for siblings of centenarians. It is possible that greater RSPs are observed for reaching even higher ages such as 100 years, but a larger sample of supercentenarians and their siblings and parents is needed to investigate this possibility.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Perls
- New England Centenarian Study, Geriatrics Section, Boston Medical Center, 88 East Newton St., Boston, MA 02118, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
14
|
Garibotti G, Smith KR, Kerber RA, Boucher KM. Longevity and correlated frailty in multigenerational families. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2007; 61:1253-61. [PMID: 17234818 PMCID: PMC3245842 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/61.12.1253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Multigenerational pedigrees provide an opportunity for assessing the effects of unobserved environmental and genetic effects on longevity (i.e., frailty). This article applies Cox proportional hazards models to data from three-generation pedigrees in the Utah Population Database using two different frailty specification schemes that account for common environments (shared frailty) and genetic effects (correlated frailty). In a model that includes measures of familial history of longevity and both frailty effects, we find that the variance component due to genetic factors is comparable to the one attributable to shared environments: Standard deviations of the correlated and the shared frailty distributions are 0.143 and 0.186, respectively. Through simulations, we also show a greater reduction in the bias of parameter estimates for fixed covariates through the use of the correlated frailty model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gilda Garibotti
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
- Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina
| | - Ken R. Smith
- Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
- Human Development and Family Studies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
| | - Richard A. Kerber
- Department of Oncological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
| | | |
Collapse
|